[Federal Register Volume 70, Number 49 (Tuesday, March 15, 2005)]
[Notices]
[Pages 12647-12648]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 05-4996]


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DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE

Food Safety and Inspection Service

[Docket No. 05-001N]


Codex Alimentarius Commission: 33rd Session of the Codex 
Committee on Food Labelling

AGENCY: Office of the Under Secretary for Food Safety.

ACTION: Notice of public meeting; request for comments.

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SUMMARY: The Office of the Under Secretary for Food Safety, United 
States Department of Agriculture (USDA), and the Food and Drug 
Administration (FDA), United States Department of Health and Human 
Services, are sponsoring a public meeting on April 26, 2005, to provide 
draft U.S. positions and receive public comments on agenda items that 
will be discussed at the 33rd Session of the Codex Committee on Food 
Labelling (CCFL) of the Codex Alimentarius Commission (Codex), which 
will be held in Kota Kinabalu, Malaysia, May 9-13, 2005. The Under 
Secretary and FDA recognize the importance of providing interested 
parties with the opportunity to comment on the agenda items that will 
be debated at this forthcoming session of the CCFL.

DATES: The public meeting is scheduled for Tuesday, April 26, 2005, 
from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m.

ADDRESSES: The public meeting will be held in Room 107A, Jamie Whitten 
Building, 1400 Independence Avenue, SW., Washington, DC.
    Documents related to the 33rd Session of the CCFL will be 
accessible via the World Wide Web at the following address: http://www.codexalimentarius.net/current.asp.
    FSIS invites interested persons to submit comments on this notice. 
Comments may be submitted by any of the following methods:
     Mail, including floppy disks or CD-ROMs, and hand- or 
courier-delivered items: Send to the FSIS Docket Clerk, U.S. Department 
of Agriculture, Food Safety and Inspection Service, 300 12th Street, 
SW., Room 102, Cotton Annex, Washington, DC 20730. All comments 
received must include the Agency name and docket number 05-001N.
    All comments submitted in response to this notice will be available 
for public inspection in the FSIS Docket Room at the address listed 
above between 8:30 a.m. and 4:30 p.m., Monday through Friday. The 
comments also will be posted on the Agency's Web site at http://www.fsis.usda.gov/regulations/2005_Notices_Index/.
    Participation by Conference Call: A call-in number has been 
arranged: 1-888-422-7105; participant code 162347.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: About the 33rd Session of the CCFL: 
U.S. Delegate, Leslye Fraser, J.D., Director, Office of Regulations and 
Policy, Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition, FDA, 5100 Paint 
Branch Parkway (HFS-004), College Park, MD 20740, telephone: (301) 436-
2378; facsimile: (301) 436-2637. Electronic mail: 
[email protected].
    About the Public Meeting: Ellen Matten, International Issues 
Analyst, U.S. Codex Office, FSIS, Room 4861, South Building, 1400 
Independence Avenue, SW., Washington, DC 20250, telephone: (202) 205-
7760; facsimile: (202) 720-3157.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Background

    The Codex Alimentarius (Codex) was established in 1962 by two 
United Nations organizations, the Food and Agriculture Organization 
(FAO) and the World Health Organization (WHO). Codex is the major 
international organization for protecting the health and economic 
interests of consumers and encouraging fair international trade in 
food. Through adoption of food standards, codes of practice, and other 
guidelines developed by its committees, and by promoting their adoption 
and implementation by governments, Codex seeks to ensure that the 
world's food supply is sound, wholesome, free from adulteration, and 
correctly labeled. In the United States, USDA, FDA, and the 
Environmental Protection Agency manage and carry out U.S. Codex 
activities.
    The Codex Committee on Food Labelling (CCFL) drafts provisions on 
labelling applicable to all foods; considers, amends, if necessary, and 
endorses specific provisions on labelling of draft standards, codes of 
practice, and guidelines prepared by other Codex committees; studies 
specific labelling problems assigned to it by the Commission; and 
studies problems associated with the advertisement of food with 
particular reference to claims and misleading descriptions. The CCFL is 
chaired by Canada.

[[Page 12648]]

Issues To Be Discussed at the Public Meeting

    The following items on the agenda for the 33rd Session of the CCFL 
will be discussed during the public meeting:
     Matters referred to the Committee from other Codex bodies.
     Endorsement of labelling provisions of draft commodity 
standards.
     Proposed Draft Guidelines for the Labelling of Foods 
Obtained Through Certain Techniques of Genetic Modification/Genetic 
Engineering: Labelling Provisions and Definitions.
     Country-of-origin labelling.
     Discussion paper on advertising.
     Proposed Draft Amendment to the General Standard for the 
Labelling of Prepackaged Foods (Quantitative Ingredient Declaration).
    Each issue listed will be fully described in documents distributed, 
or to be distributed, by the Canadian Secretariat to the Meeting. 
Members of the public may access or request copies of these documents 
(see ADDRESSES).

Public Meeting

    At the April 26, 2005, public meeting, draft U.S. positions on 
these agenda items will be described, discussed, and attendees will 
have the opportunity to pose questions and offer comments. Written 
comments may be offered at the meeting or sent to the U.S. Delegate for 
the 33rd Session of the CCFL, Leslye Fraser, J.D., (see ADDRESSES). 
Written comments should state that they relate to activities of the 
33rd Session of the CCFL.

Additional Public Notification

    Public awareness of all segments of rulemaking and policy 
development is important. Consequently, in an effort to ensure that the 
public and, in particular, minorities, women, and persons with 
disabilities are aware of this notice, FSIS will announce it on-line 
through the FSIS Web page located at http://www.fsis.usda.gov/regulations/2005_Notices_Index/.
    FSIS also will make copies of this Federal Register publication 
available through the FSIS Constituent Update, which is used to provide 
information regarding FSIS policies, procedures, regulations, Federal 
Register notices, FSIS public meetings, recalls, and other types of 
information that could affect or would be of interest to our 
constituents and stakeholders. The update is communicated via Listserv, 
a free electronic mail subscription service for industry, trade, and 
farm groups, consumer interest groups, allied health professionals, 
scientific professionals, and other individuals who have requested to 
be included. The update is available on the FSIS Web page. Through 
Listserv and the Web page, FSIS is able to provide information to a 
much broader, more diverse audience.
    In addition, FSIS offers an electronic mail subscription service 
which provides an automatic and customized notification when popular 
pages are updated, including Federal Register publications and related 
documents. This service is available at http://www.fsis.usda.gov/news_and_events/email_subscription/ and allows FSIS customers to sign up 
for subscription options across eight categories. Options range from 
recalls to export information to regulations, directives, and notices. 
Customers can add or delete subscriptions themselves and have the 
option to protect their accounts with passwords.

    Done in Washington, DC, on March 9, 2005.
F. Edward Scarbrough,
U.S. Manager for Codex Alimentarius.
[FR Doc. 05-4996 Filed 3-14-05; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3410-DM-P